Soothe Me to Sleep
by JustJasper
Summary: For Reid, going through a bout of intense insomnia, sleep takes a lot more than simply putting his head down. Caregiving, established.


"**I would like to be the air that inhabits you for a moment only. I would like to be that unnoticed and that necessary." - Margaret Atwood**

The case had been tough on everyone; six dead children while they were working on it, for a total of twenty one before the unsub was shot dead. Reid didn't cry with any more frequency than Morgan did, but after several weeks of particularly bad insomnia, he was at his wit's end, emotionally and physically. It was no surprise to his lover when he came into the bedroom to find him slumped on the bed, a hand over his eyes and his shoulders shaking with quiet tears. Morgan wanted to comfort him, but he knew there wasn't anything he could say, and that his lover needed to let the emotion out.

Instead he went to the bathroom and began to run a bath, hot enough to make skin prickle with sensation but not burn. He turned off the light in favour of lighting the candles they'd accumulated in the bathroom, despite their lack of time for baths. Morgan noted as he placed them strategically to give ample soft lighting that almost all of them where from Garcia. After a few minutes the noise of running water attracted Reid, who was wiping at his eyes with the back of his wrist as he entered the steamy room.

"C'mon baby boy," he said gently, turning off the taps, testing the water and then reaching for his lover. "Gonna make you feel better." Reid gave a half-smile, leaning into the touch as Morgan started to unbutton his shirt. Reid made a couple of tired little noises as Morgan stripped them, fingers brushing lightly over his flesh and bringing him out in goosebumps.

They stepped into the hot bath, and eased down together, Reid with his back to Morgan's chest. Morgan felt his lover's body uncoiling with the heat, and let him ease back against him.

"Thanks," Reid murmured.

"S'okay." Morgan kissed the man's temple as his hands moved under the water, ghosting a current along the man's thighs. "Tough one."

"For everyone."

"I know you haven't been sleeping."

"Everyone on the team has trouble sleeping," he said, sounding utterly exhausted.

"Just because it's normal for us doesn't mean I can't take care of you when you need it. How often do I actually get to do this?"

"Mmm," Reid sounded, stretching luxuriously.

Morgan took the porcelain jug from the side of the bath, easing Reid into an unsupported sitting position as he put it under the water between their legs to fill it up. He was careful and gentle, knowing how exhausting the bouts of insomnia were; perpetually tired, but unable to sleep.

"Tip your head back, baby," Morgan said, gently guiding the man with a hand on the back of his head. He lifted the jug and poured it in a steady stream over Reid's long hair, not too worried about the drips of clean warm water that snaked over his face. He repeated the motion several times, getting Reid's hair completely wet, his hand brushing over his neck and shoulders, thumb working against the tension there.

He picked up the purple bottle of shampoo and Reid turned his face with mild interest as Morgan snapped open the cap and the scent of lavender reached them.

"Lavender has been used to encourage sleep for thousands of years," Reid mumbled as Morgan spread shampoo out over his hands.

"That's the plan."

Morgan spread the shampoo over Reid's hair, and then pressed his fingers between the strands at his scalp and began to massage it into a lather. The effect was instantaneous; Reid groaned and shivered, pushing into the contact. Morgan smiled, working his fingers in tight circles, making sure not to miss a spot. Reid was almost constantly humming with the stimulation, unknowingly gripping Morgan's calves below the hot bathwater in reaction to the sensation.

When Morgan got the opportunity to wash Reid's hair, the man would usually go about washing the rest of his body as he did so, but this time he was too tired to make the effort. So as Morgan finished he spread the excess lather across the top of Reid's back and shoulders, washing his skin. He washed his torso and arms, taking his time elaborately touching his wrists and hands, to appreciative noises.

"C'mon Spencer," he coaxed gently, lifting the man's chin so his head was titled back again. "Close your eye."

They were barely open in the first place, but Reid did as instructed. Morgan used the jug again to rinse his hair, combing his fingers through it. As little tangles came loose they tugged at Reid's scalp, and the man let out little breathy sounds. The smell of lavender filled Morgan's olfactory system, the heat close and comforting as he rinsed away the shampoo. Reid's hair was down to the middle of his back with the weight of water straightening it out, where usually it curled around his shoulder blades.

"You still with me, baby?" Derek chuckled softly.

"Yeah."

"You want me to do conditioner, too?"

"Uh-huh."

Morgan worked the conditioner through Reid's hair, and then went back to massaging his scalp. Reid moaned low, shoulders lifting and releasing with the shiver the contact created. For the third time he urged his lover to tip his head back so he could pour water from the jug over it, careful not to let it spill over his face. When he finally put the jug back on the side, Reid collapsed back against his chest with a grunt.

"I am so tired," Reid whispered. Morgan kissed his damp temple, and let his hand wander gently in shapes over Reid's smooth chest and stomach. Reid, with some effort, lifted his hand, linking his fingers around Morgan's wrist and dragging it down below the water to his groin. His cock was half-hard, and Morgan smiled curiously.

"What have we got here?"

"You were playing with my hair," Reid murmured by way of explanation, his lids heavy. It wasn't unusual that such play would get Reid aroused, his hair, or more likely his scalp, seemed to be an erogenous zone.

"You want me to jerk you off, baby?"

"Mmhmm."

Morgan wrapped his hand around Reid's length, letting the water ease the motion as he stroked him in slow luxurious fashion. Reid thrust slightly into the motion, holding Morgan's knees to keep him in place as his lover stroked him. He kissed his jaw as Reid made little mewling, panting noises, tired and aroused and needy for the other's touch.

With his free hand Morgan snaked it up to Reid's head and laced his fingers through his hair again, and flexed against his scalp; a little of that was enough to make Reid cum, groaning into Morgan's damp neck and his hips pressing upwards as he came over his stomach and the other's hand. He collapsed against Derek, groaning from his throat.

Morgan splashed water over Reid's torso, cleaning away the semen, and by the time he'd done it Reid was dozing against him.

"C'mon Spencer, you can't sleep here."

"Nghh." Reid made a small distressed sound as Morgan roused him.

"The water'll get cold."

Reluctantly Reid let Morgan lead to get them out of the tub, almost unconscious on his feet as Morgan wrapped him in their biggest towel. He gave himself a quick towelling as he blew out all the candles, and then wrapped it around his waist. He lead Reid back through to the bedroom to sit on the bed, where he made an attempt at towelling dry his lover's hair. He'd have liked his lover to be more lucid to appreciate the interaction, but there was something nice about knowing he was bringing him comfort by caring for him. Reid kept falling asleep and jerking awake with a little start at the motion, and by the time Morgan was done he was whimpering with exhausted frustration.

"I'm sorry, pretty boy," Morgan said as he coaxed the man into bed, their bodies warm and clean and Reid's hair still a little damp. "Sleep now."

Reid whimpered and tugged weakly at Morgan's arm, until he got the hint and wrapped himself around his sleep lover, bringing the covers in close, trapping their body heat. Reid was asleep within minutes, and even though Morgan didn't know if it would last the night, he hoped the man could at least get a few hours of peaceful rest.

Morgan settled down next to him, feeling his own eyes heavy, the dwindling embers of peaked arousal fading as he followed his lover into much needed slumber.

"**I've always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept, all the little monsters closed up in a steamer trunk at the foot of the bed." - David Benioff**


End file.
